No One Turned Away for Lack of Funds | NOTAFLOF

I’ve been playing and hosting music events that have been promoted and executed on the basis of NOTAFLOF since probably around 2022 with the first few events we did with FLX Squares, the community square dance group that has been working to host and promote locally-grown square dance events in the Ithaca, NY area for the past 4 years or so.

Piotr Orlov does an excellent job digging into the history and etymology of this term in a post on his Substack: In Praise of NOTAFLOF.

What this lengthy and fun-to-pronounce collection of capital letters means to me is taking a stand that in the right circumstances, musicians can create their live music experiences in a way that benefits them, the venue, and the audience, and that these 3 bodies working in tandem like this can support a healthy local music scene.

I can imagine plenty of venues and scenarios where taking the NOTAFLOF approach might not be in the musician’s, venue’s, or audience’s best interests. Still, it can make creating a win-win-win DIY situation possible, especially if musicians are in a fortunate position to be flexible about the amount of money they take home on a given night of performing.

Audience members for shows that are labeled “NOTAFLOF” can expect to be treated with kindness and acceptance regardless of what if anything they are able to pay.